Breathwork in body psychotherapy: Clinical applications

Conscious breathing practices have long been used for healing, but their integration into body psychotherapy (BP) remains unsystematic. This article translates earlier theoretical work into practical clinical applications for BP professionals. It proposes six clinical themes for using breath in BP, a balanced breathing exercise, and four clinical models for integration. Recommendations for future research and training in this area are provided.

Study at a glance

Abstract

AbstractThe use of conscious breathing practices for the purpose of physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual healing has a long and extremely varied history, yet little work has been done to bring these practices into a coherent and unified form that contributes to the field of body psychotherapy (BP). This article focuses on translating theoretical themes developed in a previous publication (Caldwell & Victoria, 2011. Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy, 6(2), 89–101) into practical applications in the BP profession. The authors propose six clinical themes for the use of breath in BP, a balanced breathing exercise, and four clinical models for integration into BP practice. Recommendations are made for future research and training in this crucial area of BP.Keywords:: breathbreathworkbody psychotherapyconscious breathingbreath therapy Notes1. A gender neutral pronoun used to refer to a person that identifies outside of male/female gender norms.